Cool stuff: eMachineShop and related
 

Ran across something interesting today.

Ever wanted to CAD design some machined part, but don't know how to work CAD software or have access to a machine shop? Check out http://www.eMachineShop.com . There you can download relatively intuitive, powerful CAD software for FREE, then after you learn how to use it (should be really easy for anyone who's ever used Computer Aided Design software, and not even too bad for those who haven't) you can submit your design via the Internet to the same folks. They will then tell you how much it costs to produce it in different materials, finishes, etc, and how much it costs in quantities of 1 to many.

Pretty damn cool, IMHO. :D

The same guy who came up with the eMachine shop concept (Jim Lewis) has also applied it to circuit design. Download the free design program at http://www.pad2pad.com, design, submit, price, and produce.

I found out about this cool stuff via an article in the Aug 3rd issue of PC Magazine, in an editorial by Bill Machrone. You can read it here.

So why am I posting this on an RX-8 forum? Because there are so many people here like me, who are into stuff like this, and because someone is always coming up with a good idea that may never be realized for lack of CAD and a machine shop. And for circuit design/production, OverLOAD's AUX-in connector and other potential devices immediately came to mind.

So enjoy, folks. I hope you think this concept is as cool as I do. I'm off to play with this software some more! :D

Wow, 52 views and no comments? Surprising... :(

I like it paul! I just played around with it.

not everyone is creative enough to think up there own stuff. i think its really cool! can they only do metal peaces? i would like to make my own wing:D

thanks for the plug
we got D MENAC 7 working on a peice for our mazdaspped wing
out of your idea.

Someone (more talented than me) should design us a trailer hitch................

Mods may never be the same ...
 

... in a good way ...



It's the Internet Revolution meets the Industrial Revolution: a new program that lets people design 3-D objects like car parts and door knobs in metal or plastic then order them online.


Programs for computer-aided design, or CAD, have been around for decades, but eMachineShop.com appears to be the first service that checks whether a design can be made, tells the customer how much it will cost. If the customer wants the item the design goes to a "real world" machine shop for manufacturing.


The key to this enterprise is free design software provided by eMachineShop that aims to be simple enough for hobbyists and other non-engineers.


Prices won't be competitive with Wal-Mart, but Wal-Mart won't make ten copper door knobs, then sandblast them for you. EmachineShop charges $143 for that.


The company was created by Jim Lewis, a programmer and self-professed "tinkerer." One previous credit: "the world's hardest sliding block puzzle."


Lewis' software company, Micrologic, designed eMachineShop and contracts with machine shops all over the world to do the manufacturing.


Even though the Midland Park, N.J., company, which has 19 employees, doesn't advertise, it has handled more than 1,000 orders for things like door signs, motorcycle seats, robot frames, car engine covers, guitar plates and camera parts.


The most expensive item it's sold since it began beta testing last year is a $4,011 aluminum, 26-inch diameter part for a high-powered laboratory magnet.


The customers range from large companies that make prototypes to hobbyists including Dennis J. Vegh of Mesa, Ariz., who had the company make metal parts for an airplane he's building after a 1929 design.


"I had to have the pieces made because they do not exist anywhere," Vegh said.


He found the software quick and easy to use. The quality of the finishing has varied a bit between orders, but has been acceptable, he said.


"Being able to sit at you home computer, draw up some parts, submit them and 30 days later they are on your doorstep, all without human contact, is mind-blowing," Vegh says.


Lewis, the company founder, estimates that with conventional methods, it takes about 40 hours to design a part, get a quote, straighten out manufacturing problems with the machine shop and put the order in.


Taylan Altan, professor at the College of Engineering at Ohio State University, agrees, saying the process can easily drag out to two weeks.


"One of the biggest problems we have today in American design and manufacturing is that designers know very little about manufacturing," he says.


As a result, designers draw parts that are hard to make and require several rounds of modification before they can be put in production, a problem eMachineShop aims to avoid by building the knowledge of a machinist into the design software.


For instance, if you're designing a part made of sheet metal, it won't allow you to include a bend too close to an edge — the machinist needs enough surface to hold on to when bending.





Lewis is also working on Pad2Pad, an application that makes electronics. Manufacturers of printed circuit boards, like PCBExpress.com, are already online but Lewis aims to take the concept one step further by also attaching components like resistors, capacitors and chips to the boards.

Pad2Pad is taking orders, but is "a couple of years behind eMachineShop" in its development, Lewis says. One problem is stocking the components customers want.

Lewis also wants into branch into what is perhaps the least sexy segment of manufacturing: making cardboard boxes for packaging.

"My dream is essentially to become the Amazon in the manufacturing segment," Lewis says.

Interesting.

Machines that cut designs out of solid materials using CAD data are not new but offering the service to everyone is a neat concept. There are also 3D printers that use a resin to build up a model from a CAD design (typically for conceptual work - it's cheaper than metal).

Being a CAD operator myself I wonder if they'll allow us (CAD folk) to submit our own designs with CAD (in order to avoid using a watered down CAD system).

The other question I have is about patenting...I would never submit a design to a manufacturing company without a patent.

This would be excellent idea but as MTCD01 said, its all about patent and copyright of an author's design. I would be skeptical about that portion due to the obvious.

they have a website?

Read the PR piece. It lists their site and from there you can get answers to your questions.

I played with their software and it looks like it's designed for single setup operation. In other words you can't surface mill both sides of a plate. Pity that.
________
Festique

if you mean the piece he posted above then no it doesnt that's why i asked.

Zoom - http://emachineshop.com/

From WHealy's original post:________
NEXIUM LAWSUITS

i swear to god i read that post 3 friggin times and still didn't see that :o must be something wrong with this monitor :rolleyes:

ok who is going to make Real aluminum strakes

Or, you could email me your drawing where I work. We'll quote it for you. I know, painfull process, isn't it? :p

Omicron...or anybody...do you know where they have a CAD like program so I can basically play barbie dress up with my car. I want to take my car, color and all, and put different kits and pieces and what not on there. is there anything like that out? thanks --Mark

make the wing real low . . . . like flat on the deck and swoop way out with a gradual incline:D and make it free wial your at it....

Haha. I saw this thread when you first posted it a while back, but I was reluctant to write anything. Now I'm a post whore. :D

1809 youv always ben a post whore . . . .. . . . . . .. jk

well paul there were more replies and discussions only they were in whealy's thread instead of this one ;) :p

Good point Charlie, I didn't even know this other thread existed. So I merged it into this one. :D

Despite being the IT Director for an architectural firm, I'm no CAD artist nor are any of the architects I work with inclined to do 'free' work for me on a mechanical part (as opposed to, say, a house...) in ArchiCAD.

I'd love to come up with a solid aluminium replacement for the sliding cover on the console. One way to do it would be to make a frame with the 'rails' out of 1 piece of Al and attach the stock black top/latch to it. Another would be to make the whole thing out of 1 piece of Al and attach the stock latch button, or simply leave it buttonless so that it slides freely. This should eliminate the breakage that can occur from people putting their hand on it and pushing as they get out of the car.

We obviously have the original piece to use for design - is there any way to have it 3D-scanned to come up with an accurate CAD representation, or is the only way to try it with a micrometer and hope that the end product actually fits right?

Any CAD gurus here care to take a shot at it?

CAD guru here... The best approach would be to use a 3-D scanner like a laser scanner. The scanners are expensive but there are service bureaus where you send them the part and they send you the scan data to be imported into a CAD system. Check out
http://www.cyberware.com/info/serviceCenters.html for a list of places.

The scanning software will try to filter out noise and fit a smooth surface to the scanned point cloud. I'm not sure how that would work with the textured top (I've only seen it on metal airplane parts). The resulting part should be very accurate.